Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran

by Somapala Gunadheera

The Indian Express of December 06, has published the following news item under the heading, “North CM on War Path with Sri Lankan Government”: “After a month of cooperation with the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, the Chief Minister of Sri Lanka’s Tamil-speaking Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran, has switched to confrontation.

On Thursday, Wigneswaran tried to inspect the Hindu temples and houses allegedly damaged by the Sri Lankan army in the Weligamam North High Security Zone (HSZ) knowing full well that no one could enter the HSZ without prior permission. When Lankan troops told him that he ought to get prior permission from the Ministry of Defence in Colombo, Wigneswaran argued that, as CM, he had the right to visit any part of his province”.

I hasten to relate my own experience in a similar situation, before feelings get further strained. I wanted to visit the same places in the late nineties when I was in charge of civil administration in the North as Chairman and Director General of the RRAN. My office had given notice of my visit to the military headquarters at Palali and I faced no problem in entering the security zone. In fact the Head of the military setup was there in person to receive me. As far as I remember, he was a Brigadier by the name of Balarathnaraja. He accompanied me on the inspection and saw me off at the end of the tour.

I do not think that the troops meant to disrespect the CM when they stopped him at the checkpoint. They were evidently following standing orders. At their level, they would not have had the power to act beyond such orders. I agree that checkpoints are an evil in a democratic society but in certain situations, security imperatives make them necessary evils. Restrictions on entry are imposed in civil society as well. Even a lawyer who wishes to see a Judge in his chambers at the Superior Court Complex, has to obtain an appointment from the Lordship concerned before he is cleared at the checkpoint leading to the chambers.

The ideal is to have no checkpoints at all. That ideal cannot be attained hey presto in an area that has gone through decades of armed conflict. Nevertheless all attempts ought to be made genuinely to attain the ideal, even in such a background. That calls for a progressive reduction of such obstacles until they reach the barest essential minimum. It is the duty of the armed services to achieve that goal in the shortest possible time. Circumstances demand that the civilian population tolerate that inconvenience until that goal is reached as fast as possible.

The allegation, “Hindu temples and houses allegedly damaged by the Sri Lankan army”, does not appear to be a fair conclusion. In my three years in the RRAN during which I travelled extensively in the North, (except in Kilinochchi and Mulatheevu), I did not come across a single temple or house deliberately damaged by the army. Of course, I saw many of them already damaged during battles between the army and the LTTE, before the peninsula was retaken. That could be collateral damage in the crossfire, except where there is proof of willful destruction.

In any case the army damaging Hindu temples is a very implausible proposition. The majority of army personnel stationed in the North are Sinhala Buddhists. Hindu shrines are a part of popular Buddhist religious culture. Once I went to inspect Thirukethiswarm temple which had been partly damaged in the fighting. The civilian officer who accompanied me was a Tamil Christian. He stood outside while the Sinhala Buddhist officer sent to cover my security, walked in with me and paid obeisance at shrines like that of Murugan which were familiar to him. It is political misadventures that has made ‘the nearer in blood, the nearer the bloody’.

It is sad to hear that ‘after a month of cooperation with the government’, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province had ‘switched to confrontation’. The CM certainly made a genuine effort to achieve peaceful coexistence. Despite severe opposition from belligerent elements of his own supporters, he called on the President to take his oath of office. He did not permit Cameron’s much hyped visit to Jaffna to be made a source of embarrassment to the Government as much as he could. ‘Mahaveerar’ day was handled tactfully to prevent a possible clash with the security services.

But what did the CM get in return for his amicable conduct? The Government was blind to the vistas opened by his gestures and maintained a deafening silence about the new development. The CM’s restraint and courtesy were ignored as were his requests and the only response that he received in return for all his positive overtures was a stiff warning that he should attend the DCC meetings. That was a great opportunity for integration, lost for the want of vision, flexibility and prompt interaction.

Now the NPC is internationalizing their problems they first took up with the Government. They have taken their complaint to friendly countries like India, the UK and the US. The CM has unilaterally invited the Indian PM to the North to study the situation at first hand. These overtures cast aspersions on our integrity and embarrass the country before the international community giving it a bad name.

This loss of face could have been avoided if the Government was proactive to the demands made by the NPC as it came to power. The least that could have been done was to have started an open dialogue with the new representatives of the Tamils.

Mandela placed in an identical situation lost no time in talking to his adversaries to integrate a divided nation by sharing power with those who were responsible for his incarceration. He built a united South Africa in the process, leaving no room for external intervention. In contrast our Government was not circumspect enough to clasp the extended hand of amity to build lasting ties between the Centre and the Province.

Even in other spheres, inaction and delayed action have been the bane of governance in this country. Most of the problems faced by the government have been caused by indecision and dilly-dallying. Today’s crisis in local government is a classic example. A vigilant and effective government would have nipped in the bud, the spate of lost budget debates in the local bodies, by condign action taken forthwith, when the problem arose for the first time.

Instead those in power watched the development with folded arms until the trick snowballed into a crisis that is causing a serious loss of face to the Party in power. President Rajapaksa has rightly said that the best way to honour Mandela was to follow his democratic principles.

PR has already made an unprecedented contribution by putting an end to the war that was eating into the entrails of our nation. He would bring that contribution to fruition by following President Mandela’s footsteps on the path to national integration. courtesy: The Island